What inspired you to launch your web-based business? I was studying to become a health coach and I noticed that my fellow health coaches were frustrated with technology and it was keeping them from launching their business and making a difference in the world. I believed in them and what they were offering, so I couldn’t let them quit. I started helping people, teaching them how to use these tools that we were told that we needed as coaches. Word spread and the business was born!

How has your previous employment experience aided you professionally? Before I started my business, I was working in online marketing for a university. I worked on the website, wrote and sent email campaigns, and managed social media for the university and I absolutely loved my job. I felt creative and useful. The skills I learned there directly translated to what I was doing for my fellow coaches.

Do you weave your values into your business? Absolutely. I believe that women can do anything. We are so smart and powerful, but sometimes something like technology can hold us back and make us feel inferior. I don’t let that stop anyone! I’m here to teach (mostly) women how to use technology so they feel as confident and as powerful as they are. I believe in my clients and I know they can do this.

What is the best part about being a web-based businesswoman? My cat is sitting on my lap as I type this. Honestly, the best part is that I can work from anywhere I want, and I love working from home so I can be with my pets. Soon, I’ll be moving to Europe and I get to take my business with me because my clients are all over the world.

What is the most challenging part of being a web-based businesswoman? Marketing myself. It’s so hard! I’m an introvert, so talking about myself is really challenging. It’s so much easier for me to create courses and programs than it is to promote them.

What is your favorite way to unplug from work? Honestly, I like to binge-watch tv shows!

How do you maintain your health? I eat reallllly well because I actually like the taste of fresh, whole food, and I find cooking very relaxing and meditative.

What are some of your proudest accomplishments? I built some pretty awesome websites for the university, and presented them to the president and the board of trustees. That was cool. I will insist that I’m not a designer, but I’m proud of those sites. I’m also proud that I’ve sustained my own business for 4 years. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve never given up.

What is the wildest thing you have ever done? I went kayaking in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Croatia. And in September, I’m moving to Portugal!

What three web tools can you not live without? Google Calendar, Asana, Facebook.

What helps you increase your productivity the most? Making a list of the top 5 things I want to accomplish each day. I make that list before I turn on the computer and that’s all I allow myself to do. It helps me stay on task and finish projects. I just started bullet journaling, and I think I’m going to love it!

Do you have any personal “wild web” role models? Denise Duffield-Thomas (formerly “Lucky Bitch”). She teaches women how to value themselves and release money blocks. I love her business style (confident, playful, free) and her Australian accent! She’s an introvert too, which always inspires me.

What are some risks you have taken that resulted in positive outcomes? Quitting my job was terrifying, but it has worked out.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date? “I can’t do this, but I’m doing it anyway.” That seems to be my mantra lately. Things are hard, but you’ve got to do them anyway. Take a little step forward and pretty soon, you’ll be doing it.

I’ve also learned the importance of boundaries. People will try to take advantage, but good boundaries and even some tech systems can prevent that. For example, my online calendar only allows appointments on certain days and times. That’s the only time I work, and my calendar keeps that time safe for me.

How do you maintain a work/life balance? I have really good phone/technology boundaries. The computer goes off at 6pm (no more work), and I don’t look at my phone after 9pm or before 9am. No phone in bed, ever! My clients can wait and that downtime is really important for me.

Business-wise, where do you see yourself in ten years? This is a tough question. I hope I will still be working for myself, maybe teaching technology on a bigger scale. I would love to partner up with coaching schools and programs that tell their clients that they need a website or newsletter, but they don’t teach them how to actually use a website or send a newsletter. (Will newsletters still be a thing in 10 years?)

Where’s your favorite place to work from? My desk in my home office. There’s a garden behind me and always a cat nearby.

How do you make your home a productive space to work? I love my work, so it’s easy for me to sit down and get focused. I’m never tempted to clean. 😉 Having an ergonomic desk is so important! I put my laptop up on an elevated tray so my neck isn’t straining down. It’s a small thing, but I can’t possibly work for hours on the couch or even my dining room table. My neck has to be comfortable or nothing will get done. lol

What is the #1 piece of advice would you give to someone who’s aspiring to run a web based business and be a Wild Web Woman? Get help when you get stuck. You can bang your head against a wall for 10 hours, trying to learn how to embed a video on your website or how to create a Facebook ad, OR you can hire someone to help you and you’ll get it done in less than an hour. No tears, and you’ll have a lasting skill.

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Web-based businesses RULE!

Being a wild web woman means doing the work you love and embracing the flexibility to live the life you want AND deserve! Success doesn't happen in a silo, the WWW community of webpreneur women are here to help! You CAN have it all - a solid web-based business is the foundation! Hit the blue icon below to subscribe to our fun and fab advice! When you do, you get happy, healthy and wealthy tips delivered to you automagically!

WILD WEB WOMEN®

Wild Web Women® (WWW) is a virtual support system for women who run web-based businesses teaching everything from sales, marketing, operations, management and life balance (yes, there is such a thing).

WWW was created by a team of women who have run a successful web-based business for over a decade. Web-based businesses RULE! Without the wild, wonderful web, we wouldn’t have been able to raise our families, run our households, volunteer, travel and make money honey!